Locally Led Efforts to Protect Water Quality in Agricultural Watersheds

1. Locally Led Efforts to Protect Water Quality in Agricultural Watersheds Cannonsville Reservoir (NY)

2. Why Form Watershed Organizations to Protect Water Quality? • Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), sediment, herbicides, and bacteria from agricultural activities can cause pollution in streams, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries and coastal waters. • Locally derived solutions by engaged farmer-watershed organizations must be part of the solution. Little Bear River Watershed, UT

3. Determine Watershed Interest Locally lead efforts to protect water quality will only work if there is sufficient interest by farmers AND agency personnel. Cheney Lake Watershed farmer (KS)

4. Determine and DevelopWatershed Resources: Include Others Think outside the box and forge partnerships with end-users of the water, such as cities, environmental organizations, and/or sporting organizations. Have them sponsor practices and have multiple partners. Lincoln Lake Watershed (AR)

5. Determine and DevelopWatershed Resources: Find Funding Watershed projects must have stable and long-term funding sources.

6. Determine and DevelopWatershed Resources: Paid Staff Paid staff is essential and can often be part of existing agencies such as extension or soil and water conservation district. Cannonsville Reservoir Watershed farmer and extension agent t (NY)

7. Make Sure Everyone is at the Table Cheney Lake Watershed meeting (KS)

8. Next Steps to an Effective Watershed Planning and Implementation Now that you have a watershed organization and other partners…….what is the best way (most effective environmentally and economically) to move forward?? Little River Landuse (GA)

9. Understand the Problem • Work at the watershed scale..the smaller, the better. • Work with appropriate agencies or organizations to find and interpret water quality data so that the: • water quality pollutant(s) are identified. • source(s) of the water quality pollutant are identified.

10. Set Water Quality Goals • Work with agency personnel to set reasonable and appropriate water quality goals. The goals should be measurable. • Goals should include the amount of pollutant reduction AND the time it will take to achieve the goals. Rock Creek Watershed sampler (OH )

11. Understand Your Toolbox:Which Conservation Practices Work Understand how conservation practices (best management practices) can reduce or increase different pollutants before selecting practices. Rock Creek Watershed terraces and grassed waterways (OH )

12. Understand the Critical Areas of the Watershed: Where is Most of the Pollution Generated? Goodwater Creek (MO ) with permission of C. Baffaut

13. Set Land Treatment Goals • Work with agency personnel to set appropriate land treatment goals to obtain the water quality change. • Land treatment goals should include the type and number of different conservation practice(s) and their placement in the watershed. • Goals should be revisited over time. Cannonsville Reservoir Watershed veal barn (NY )

14. Work With Other Farmers to Promote Conservation Practices • Effective conservation practice outreach is people intensive. • Effective outreach is provided by farmers for farmers or a trusted local agency representative. • Ensure that all watershed agricultural groups are represented in farmer outreach teams. • Focus on farmers who own or lease land in areas with the highest potential for pollution loss.

15. Conservation Practices Need To Fix the Problem • Conservation practices need to work. This may mean using practices that are more expensive, new, less convenient, or require more management. • Conservation practice records are important and should be continually updated. Little River Watershed farmer (GA )

16. Conservation Practices Need Continual Updating Continue to work with farmers even after practice adoption because many factors may reduce the use of practices. Cannonsville Reservoir Watershed farmer (NY )

17. Locally Led Watershed Management:There is No Silver Bullet • General Points • Watershed planning must occur to provide a sound program and multiple partners are needed. • Outside resources are often needed for some conservation practices.

18. Locally Led Watershed Management:There is No Silver Bullet Farmer-Led Management Team Members of the farmer-led management team must recognize the problem and be willing to be part of the solution. Members of the management team must be willing to work with their neighbors. Cheney Lake Watershed farmer (KS)

19. Locally Led Watershed Management:There is No Silver Bullet Farmer Participation Farmers must have the power to determine the best solutions for their farms. Farmers must also recognize that some solutions will be more difficult because some conservation practices will cost more money and/or be more difficult to use. Buffer in Eagle Creek Watershed (IN)

20. Be Proactive Rather Than Reactive:Farmers Have to Be Part of the Solution Eagle Creek Watershed farmer (IN)

21. Acknowledgements This slide set was developed using lessons that were learned in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). The focus of the NIFA CEAP project was to explore the relationship between conservation practices and water quality protection at the watershed scale. The authors wish to thank all the farmers and agency personnel who helped with this slide set, particularly the farmers of the Citizens Management Committee, who work in the Cheney Lake Watershed, Lisa French and Howard Miller, and the Reno County Conservation District in Kansas..

22. Additional Information on the NIFA-CEAP • Fact Sheets: www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/ NIFACEAP/ • Book: Osmond, D., D. Meals, D. Hoag, and M. Arabi. 2012. How to Build Better Agricultural Conservation Programs to Protect Water Quality: The NIFA-CEAP Experience. Ankeny, IA: Soil and Water Conservation Society. • USDA NIFA National Water Quality Conference Proceedings: http://www.usawaterquality.org/conferences/default.html • USEPA Webinar: Archived version of webinar - http://mp118885.cdn.mediaplatform.com/118885/ml/mp/4000/5345/5417/14720/Archive/default.htm PowerPoint presentation - http://water.epa.gov/learn/training/wacademy/upload/webcast_slides_5-15-2012.pdf

23. Contact Information Our Sponsors For more information, contact Deanna Osmond (deanna_osmond@ncsu.edu) Authors Mazdak Arabi - Modeler Dan Line – Hydrologist NC State University Deanna Osmond – Agronomist &Team Leader NC State University Dana Hoag – Economist Jean Spooner – Statistician NC State University Colorado State University Mark McFarland – Water Quality Extension Texas A&M Don Meals – Watershed Monitoring & Evaluation Consultant Greg Jennings - Stream Restoration NC State University Andrew Sharpley - Soil Scientist Univ. of Arkansas Al Luloff – Sociologist Penn State University